Speaker 0: I think we are at time. So, uh, just want to welcome everybody. Thank you guys for joining us today. I posted some housekeeping items in the chat for you all, but feel free to post any questions you might have for Sarah in the chat or in the Q&A. Other than that, I just want to introduce our speaker today, Sarah. Take it away.

Speaker 1: Great. Thanks, Kea. So, thanks for joining this session today. Before we get started, just a bit of an intro to me. I am Sarah Kelleher, the Customer Success Director for Nebula Consulting. We are a Salesforce and Pardot consulting partner based in London, UK, and I’ve been working with Pardot for eight years now. You’ll often find me at the London Pardot User Group and in the Pardot Slack channel. Over the years, I have implemented and supported the platform for hundreds of different organizations, from small SMBs with very lean marketing teams through to large multinationals with hundreds of users. I’ve seen what makes it work and, perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t. During that time, Pardot itself has evolved—not only in name (now Account Engagement) but also from a small SMB-focused tool into something much more sophisticated, capable of competing with the enterprise marketing automation heavyweights. I’ve seen global enterprise businesses choosing Account Engagement (Pardot) more and more, but how does this famously simple tool fit the bill for a multinational organization? That’s what this session is going to cover. I’ll share some of my best practices and tips for success when operating in multiple regions around the globe. Before I dive in, I want to take a moment to thank the organizers and sponsors of MaDreaming. This is a huge event and takes a massive effort to put together. I’m sure everyone over the next few days will find something valuable to take away. Our objective for today’s session is to identify two key strategies for operating a successful marketing automation function in a multinational organization. While I’ll be presenting these ideas in the context of Pardot/Account Engagement, there are certainly lessons that can transfer to any marketing automation tool. First, I’ll clarify what I mean by “global.” Typically, this refers to larger organizations, but I consider any company with multiple marketing teams distributed across the globe as global. In this simple example, a potential global business might have one central team working with high-level regional teams across the Americas, APAC, and EMEA. Every organization arranges its regions differently, depending on business strategy, but the principles I’m outlining will still apply. These principles also apply to any organization with dispersed marketing teams, whether based on region, product line, brand, or audience type. Whatever the size or structure of your company, there should be something useful in this session. Clearly defining a successful global marketing automation strategy is a vast topic and cannot be fully covered in 25 minutes, so I’ll focus on two main themes: people and structure. For people, we’ll talk about how to create the right team and how to empower them. For structure, we’ll discuss ownership of your overall org and balancing collaboration and decentralization. People I’ve seen all sorts of marketing team configurations over the years, but the most successful setups include three broad functions:

Central marketing function: Covers administration of Pardot and owns the platform from the company HQ. This team may also be called Global Marketing, Marketing Ops, Center of Excellence, or HQ. Regional users: The day-to-day marketing teams who develop and deliver campaigns. Super users/champions/power users: Located somewhere in the middle, they act as a bridge between the technology and business teams. Having a network of champions, typically one representative from each regional team, creates a powerful function. Champions understand the needs of the end users they represent because they are part of regional teams, but they also have the technical expertise and passion for Pardot to collaborate with central marketing. They ensure that centrally designed practices and processes are embedded in day-to-day use. These users have a unique viewpoint of how Pardot is used. They appreciate the need for central governance, understand the technical basis for marketing processes, and represent regional nuances and context, making central initiatives practical. Because of this best-of-both-worlds position, champions can enable and empower their teams, advocate for Pardot, and be consulted by central marketing on new processes. In return, they often join networks with super users from other regions and may have additional system privileges, such as advanced reporting or automation rights. They may also receive enhanced training, networking opportunities, and knowledge-sharing sessions. The success of a champions program lies in their ability to represent both the platform and the regional teams effectively. When implemented correctly, this network drives adoption, knowledge sharing, and innovation in your marketing automation platform. Empowering People Empowering users requires focusing on the right people and enabling them in the right ways. Beyond the core team (central marketing, champions, and regional users), other groups also need to be empowered:

Senior stakeholders: Need visibility into marketing impact on pipeline. IT/Salesforce admins: Ensure marketing processes align with broader systems (CRM, website, finance, etc.). Sales users: Interact with marketing engagement data daily in customer conversations. Giving the right tools for success is critical. Classroom and recorded training are useful, but adoption really happens when Pardot is integrated into users’ daily roles. You need to explain the “why” of Pardot—why processes matter and what’s in for them. Salesforce has emphasized “Easy” this year with Salesforce Easy, aiming to make systems simpler to use. In Pardot, this translates into three areas:

User Experience: UX is critical for adoption. Features like embedded engagement history dashboards help users interact with Pardot data within their day-to-day workflows. Permissions: Ensure users have access to what they need without overwhelming them with irrelevant data. Balance access carefully to maintain security and reduce errors. Automation: Automate repetitive tasks so users can focus on strategic initiatives. Even small steps, like replacing manually updated lists with dynamic ones, can save hours each month. Ownership & Structure Once people are empowered, you must define ownership: who controls what, and how to balance central governance with regional independence. Poorly defined ownership leads to duplicated effort, missed details, frustration, and low adoption. Some areas of the platform require centralized governance, implemented consistently across all regions (e.g., Salesforce-Pardot integration, legal/data handling policies). Other areas may require regional flexibility (e.g., local newsletters or holiday campaigns). Ownership exists on a spectrum. At one end, an entirely open sharing model allows all users access to all data, which is simple but can raise governance and compliance concerns. At the other end, a fully segregated model restricts users to their team’s data, which is secure but may cause workflow and duplication challenges. Most organizations fall somewhere in the middle, controlling data access logically while maintaining flexibility. When determining ownership, consider:

Existing processes (e.g., sales data access) Team structure and capacity Defined owners for each area Technical feasibility of your chosen model Business Units For global organizations, Pardot business units are a key tool. They create partitioned areas of Pardot, allowing regional teams to operate independently while still under a single Salesforce org. Deciding between a single global org and multiple business units depends on your ownership model:

Single global org: Baseline is highly collaborative; customizations can lock things down. Multiple business units: Baseline is decentralized; customization can allow collaboration. Use examples to guide your decision:

Prospect data: Who should see and market to which records? Preference management: Should unsubscribes in one region affect others? Mapping your position on the ownership spectrum helps determine if business units are needed or if a single org suffices. Summary To build a successful global marketing automation function:

Build the right team with three core functions: central marketing, champions, and regional users. Empower the right people with the right tools, explaining the “why” and integrating Pardot into daily workflows. Define ownership, balancing central governance with regional independence, and use business units if appropriate. That’s a quick overview of creating a successful global marketing automation strategy. Speaker 0:

Awesome. Great session, Sarah. We do have one question in the Q&A. Kim asked, can you explain what you mean by “do not solutionize”? Speaker 1:

Yes. That means don’t let technology dictate your business strategy. Decide on the strategy first, then choose the technical solution. Speaker 0:

Great. Emily asks, if we have one Salesforce org, can we still use business units within Pardot? Speaker 1:

Yes. Business units are designed for organizations with a single Salesforce org that want to separate marketing efforts for regional or product teams operating independently. Speaker 0:

Great. Christy asked, what changes do you anticipate for Pardot next year? Speaker 1:

That’s a big question. The roadmap session at the conference will cover details, but the direction is toward more customization in the gray areas we discussed—making collaboration and decentralization work more seamlessly together. Speaker 0:

One more question: if we manage separate brands with a small team and full access, should we use business units? Speaker 1:

It depends on how distinct your brands are. If brands share a lot of assets and lists, multiple business units may complicate workflows. For independent preference management and brand separation, business units are useful. Speaker 0:

Great. Sarah, thank you so much for your time. To all attendees, make sure to visit sponsor booths and join the other sessions this afternoon. Thank you, everyone. Speaker 1:

Thank you. Speaker 0:

Thank you.